Describes the preparation, structure and experimental testing of an examination designed to test student achievement in the subsidiary German course at the Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, one of several subsidiary language courses aimed at giving Modern Language students a sound working knowledge of a third language. (FB)

Evaluates the commonly held idea that girls are better language learners than boys. Results indicate that boys are not weaker in any of the language skill areas tested. Recommends that future research concentrate on the sex and image of the teacher. (EKN)

Examined two aspects of the relationship between oral and written language for third-grade students (N=77). Results indicated that moderate relationships existed between grammatical aspects of oral and written language. Oral language proficiency significantly differed for groups rated high, medium, and low on the basis of written language…

Discusses the importance of encouraging students not only to study, but to become proficient in a second language. (EKN)

Examines the language used to communicate Keynesian ideas and measures the progress toward effective presentation of those ideas. (HOD)

Questions the extent to which attention differentially affects different parts of language and how this differential effect interacts with increased linguistic knowledge. Subjects were native English speaking learners of Italian. (Author/VWL)

Reports on a study that found that both first-language summarizing skills and second language proficiency affect second language summarizing skills, with the exception of inclusion of main ideas and amount of distortion that are more affected by first language summarizing skills. (Author/VWL)

Examines how Spanish is taught to Hispanic bilinguals. Discussion focuses on how the oral proficiency movement directly affects the teaching of native Spanish speakers. Key issues and problems stemming from the language teaching profession's attempts to apply the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages/Educational Testing Service…

Discusses some of the major developments, issues, and problems in studying the relationship between attitudes and motivation and second-language acquisition and proficiency. (29 references) (GLR)

In 3 experiments, 2 year olds imitated sentences that contained English or non-English functors (articles and verb inflections), and were controlled for suprasegmental and segmental factors. Children omitted English functors more often than non-English functors, thus indicating perceptual sensitivity to familiar elements. (RH)

A study described the level of English proficiency and academic success of 327 Moroccan students studying agriculture at the University of Minnesota. Findings indicated that the level of English speaking ability was at least as important as prior performance in college-level course work in their own country. (JOW)

A review of the arguments (including fossilization, improved language performance, and the role of error correction) supporting a focus on linguistic accuracy and grammar during early second language learning found no research evidence showing this approach to be beneficial. (Author/CB)

A framework for second-language acquisition (SLA) features cognitive processing components: process of analysis and process of control. These processes lead to changes in mental representations that are the basis of learning. The framework can be applied to similarity of first- and second-language learning, the starting point for SLA,…

This study examines whether readers of German can identify correctly the coreferents of anaphoric expressions in a German text and whether this ability is related to their overall comprehension of the text and their baseline German language ability. Findings reveal a positive relationship between the ability to resolve anaphoric references and…

Examines the rating scale and the testing procedure of the oral interview for evidence of discourse competence. The paper suggests that a careful examination of the processing capabilities might serve as a valid indicator of their discourse competence. (24 references) (GLR)